It kind of is? There are some chemistry shenanigans going on to get the ink to dry with a high gloss finish. To be fair, that might involve plastics (I don’t know off hand), but it can be run on a normal press so heat is not available for melting a normal laminate.

Heat Laminated paper is more durable, but also more expensive than other commercial durable papers and at scale is cost prohibitive. It’s why the local diner has a laminated menu and the chain restaurant (usually) doesn’t.